Agricultural Development

Food systems around the world face growing challenges. They must be transformed to sustainably feed a growing global population and made more resilient to shocks from extreme weather to conflict. Efforts on those fronts are increasingly interlinked—and depend on well-targeted local interventions.

Fertilizer use plays an important role in increasing agricultural production and ensuring food availability and economic accessibility: two critical components of overall food security. When global fertilizer prices skyrocketed in 2021-2022, those spikes brought with them concerns about drastically reduced fertilizer application and subsequent negative impacts on food production, prices, and food security.

The global food system is uniquely vulnerable to climate impacts, making adaptation of paramount importance. While contributing roughly one-third of total anthropogenic emissions, food systems around the world fortunately also hold immense potential for mitigation through improved practices and land use. A new article published today in Science emphasizes the critical role of agrifood value chains (AVCs) in supporting both adaptation and mitigation at the farm level.

Russia’s recent attacks on Greater Odesa port infrastructure and grain-carrying vessels in the Black Sea marked the most intense attacks on Ukraine’s agricultural infrastructure in over a year. In September, according to the United Nations, Russian attacks damaged grain infrastructure and six civilian vessels in Ukraine’s Black Sea ports. Russian ballistic missiles then struck foreign-flagged ships on October 6, October 7, October 9, and October 14, also damaging a grain warehouse and other port infrastructure with the October 14 strike.

Climate change is increasing the frequency of adverse weather events and reducing agricultural productivity, particularly in warmer regions of the world (Ortiz-Bobea et al 2021). Smallholder farming households in developing countries depend on agriculture for their livelihoods and spend a larger proportion of their income on food,  making them the most vulnerable to harvest failures  (Hallegatte et al 2020).